The present invention relates to the field of lawn mowing and trimming equipment. More specifically to a walk behind type lawn mower supplied with a retractable string type trimmer.
Many property owners today currently own both a walk behind lawn mower and a string type trimmer. Generally, the job of mowing and trimming an intricately landscaped lawn is done in two steps. The first step typically involves mowing the vast majority of the area and getting as close to landscaping such as trees, gardens, shrubs, houses and the like as can be done with an ordinary walk behind lawn mower. Upon completion of this job, the second step is carried out using a string type trimmer. The aforementioned obstacles are trimmed using the weed trimmer to cut any excess grass that may remain around the edges. A further step commonly carried out is that of edging along sidewalks where grass and sod may begin to creep onto the pavement or cement. This can be done with a specialized edger or a weed eater held at an angle to cut this section of the sod and create a clean edge along sidewalks, concrete and the like.
Many attempts have been made at combining these jobs and devices so that the task may be accelerated and the cost of equipment brought to a minimum. One such device is disclosed is the Miller U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,276. This device discloses a walk behind type lawn mower supplied with a string type trimmer assembly about the side of the mower. One problem with this type of device is that the trimming apparatus is always present on the side of the mower and can interfere when trying to mow close to obstacles where trimming is not desired. Further, this device may not be easily engaged and disengaged for normal mowing. Attempts have been made to provide such a device that may be easily engaged and disengaged. One such device is further shown in the Owens U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,099. This patent once again discloses a walk behind type mower supplied with a trimming assembly mounted to the side of the mower. This assembly may be lifted upward or rotated downward into an engaged position. This device is rather complicated as it is mounted to the side of the mower and requires that the user specifically push the mower in a line in order to trim along the edge of obstacles, often requiring a second trip after the mowing is completed. Finally, devices such as the Devillier et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,189 disclose a walk behind type lawn mower having a vertical edger apparatus and a horizontal trimming apparatus. Although it may be desirable to have both of these apparatus""s, the assembly becomes rather complicated and further is once again not easily retractable in order to allow for unhindered mowing when trimming and edging.
From this discussion it can be seen that it would be desirable to provide a mechanism for a walk behind type lawnmower that is not only easily retractable and may be moved out of the way for normal mowing but may also be placed in such an orientation that as a normal mower cut is made along the edge of a building or obstacle, trimming may be done at the same time as mowing, thus not requiring the mower to be pushed in an inefficient second trip around the obstacle for trimming.
It is the primary objective of the present invention to supply a lawnmower apparatus which will provide an individual with the ability to not only mow a section of grassy lawn, but will simultaneously allow the user to trim along edges of the lawn that the mower normally is unable to reach and leaves uncut in the same mower pass as that portion of the lawn that is directly adjacent to the uncut edge.
It is an additional objective of the present invention to provide such a means of simultaneously mowing and trimming a lawn in which a flailing mechanism is pivotally attached to the deck of a common gasoline powered lawnmower, either a push type or riding mower, in such a manner that the flailing head can be extended when it is required for trimming purposes and retracted when it is not.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide such a means of simultaneously mowing and trimming a lawn in which the flailing head is rotationally driven by means of a pair of common V-belts that extend forward from a pulley located on the external portion of the engine drive shaft and in which such rotational force is supplied by the mower engine through said pulley.
It is a still further objective of the present invention to provide such a means of simultaneously mowing and trimming a lawn that is safe for the operator to use as the flailing head is only actively driven by the V-belt when the flailing mechanism is fully extended out in front of the mower deck by the operator and so the flailing head can never be engaged unless the operator has made a conscious decision to do so.
It is a still further objective of the present invention to provide a flailing mechanism that is rotatable during use so that it may be used in the horizontal position for trimming and rotated at an angle toward the vertical for edging or close trimming, all with little effort supplied by the operator.
These objectives are accomplished by the use of a common gasoline power lawnmower, either a push mower or a riding mower, which has attached to the forward portion of its mowing deck a pivotally mounted extending flailing mechanism. The flailing mechanism is essentially an arm that is pivotally mounted to one front corner of the mower deck at its most rearward end and extends from that point either across the front of the mower in its retracted position or out in front of the mower in its extended position. This positioning of the flailing mechanism is typically controlled by a series of control levers that are most commonly mounted on the handle of the mower and which can be easily manipulated during the normal operation of the mower.
The flailing mechanism has a flailing head positioned on the under side of the arm and located at the arm""s most outward end in relation to the pivotal connection on the mower. The flailing head is a relatively small cylindrical object that contains a plurality of extending flailing lines. Additionally, the flailing head is connected through a pulley located on its upper most surface to a pulley on the engine of the lawn mower through a series of V-belts. These V-belts provide the rotational force necessary to spin the flailing head at a high speed which also spins the flailing lines which in turn provide the cutting force to trim the desired areas.
Therefore, when the operator is mowing a section of lawn that boarders an obstacle such as a building, rock, or other immovable object which the mower cannot approach closely enough so as to cut the grass that is on the very edge of the lawn, he can simply extend the flailing arm and employ the spinning flailing head and line to cut this grass. Additionally, the design of the present invention ensures that the V-belts are only engaged when the flailing arm is extended and that the flailing arm can only be extended by an intended or positive action of the operator. This greatly enhances the safety characteristics of the invention as it ensures that the flailing head and line are never in motion unless such motion is an intended result of the operator of the lawnmower.
Finally, the flailing head is connected so as to be rotatable from a relatively horizontal cutting position towards a more vertical cutting position for edging and the like. The rotation of the flailing head is controlled by one of the control levers mounted on the handle of the mower and thus, the operator may easily manipulate the head during normal operation to rotate the head so the flailing is more vertical for edging or for closer trimming.
For a better understanding of the present invention reference should be made to the drawings and the description in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the present invention.